This week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced two deals designed to produce COVID-19 vaccines on Canadian soil by the end of the year. But even that timeline — which won’t see Canadian-produced vaccines until well after the government’s self-imposed deadline of having enough doses to vaccinate the entire population by September — is unlikely to be met, according to an expert with many years’ experience in the industry.
One deal he announced is with Novavax, a vaccine manufacturer that says it will produce vaccines at a National Research Council (NRC) facility in Montreal. But the facility has not yet been built, nor has the manufacturing process been certified for safety, or even licensed by Health Canada.
The second deal is with Precision NanoSystems in Vancouver. Trudeau said Ottawa will contribute $25.1 million in tax dollars to help the company build a new facility. The company itself estimates it will be in production in 2023.
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